# 1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 36th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 36 | 16 | 18 | 222 | 133 | +89 | 90 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 28 | 23 | 19 | 155 | 148 | +7 | 75 |
| 3 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 28 | 29 | 13 | 152 | 172 | −20 | 69 |
| 4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 27 | 28 | 15 | 169 | 175 | −6 | 69 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 156 | 167 | −11 | 67 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 70 | 17 | 37 | 16 | 152 | 211 | −59 | 50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1952–53 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–5–5 | 2–10–2 | 9–2–3 | 5–7–2 | 8–5–1 |
| Chicago | 5–4–5 | — | 3–9–2 | 3–7–4 | 10–3–1 | 6–6–2 |
| Detroit | 10–2–2 | 9–3–2 | — | 4–4–6 | 7–3–4 | 7–4–3 |
| Montreal | 2–9–3 | 7–3–4 | 4–4–6 | — | 7–2–5 | 7–5–2 |
| New York | 7–5–2 | 3–10–1 | 3–7–4 | 2–7–5 | — | 2–8–4 |
| Toronto | 5–8–1 | 6–6–2 | 4–7–3 | 5–7–2 | 8–2–4 | — |

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 11, 1952 | 2–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | T | October 12, 1952 | 4–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | L | October 16, 1952 | 1–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 0–2–1 |
| 4 | W | October 18, 1952 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 1–2–1 |
| 5 | W | October 19, 1952 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 2–2–1 |
| 6 | W | October 22, 1952 | 5–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 3–2–1 |
| 7 | L | October 25, 1952 | 0–4 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 3–3–1 |
| 8 | W | October 29, 1952 | 7–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 4–3–1 |
| 9 | W | November 1, 1952 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 5–3–1 |
| 10 | W | November 2, 1952 | 4–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 6–3–1 |
| 11 | W | November 5, 1952 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 7–3–1 |
| 12 | L | November 6, 1952 | 1–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 7–4–1 |
| 13 | T | November 8, 1952 | 3–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 7–4–2 |
| 14 | L | November 11, 1952 | 0–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 7–5–2 |
| 15 | W | November 13, 1952 | 3–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 8–5–2 |
| 16 | L | November 15, 1952 | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 8–6–2 |
| 17 | W | November 16, 1952 | 6–3 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 9–6–2 |
| 18 | L | November 19, 1952 | 1–2 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 9–7–2 |
| 19 | T | November 22, 1952 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 9–7–3 |
| 20 | L | November 23, 1952 | 5–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 9–8–3 |
| 21 | L | November 26, 1952 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 9–9–3 |
| 22 | T | November 27, 1952 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 9–9–4 |
| 23 | L | November 29, 1952 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 9–10–4 |
| 24 | L | November 30, 1952 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 9–11–4 |
| 25 | W | December 4, 1952 | 2–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 10–11–4 |
| 26 | T | December 6, 1952 | 2–2 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 10–11–5 |
| 27 | W | December 7, 1952 | 2–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 11–11–5 |
| 28 | L | December 10, 1952 | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 11–12–5 |
| 29 | L | December 13, 1952 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 11–13–5 |
| 30 | T | December 14, 1952 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 11–13–6 |
| 31 | T | December 18, 1952 | 1–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 11–13–7 |
| 32 | W | December 20, 1952 | 4–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 12–13–7 |
| 33 | L | December 21, 1952 | 2–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 12–14–7 |
| 34 | W | December 24, 1952 | 2–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 13–14–7 |
| 35 | W | December 27, 1952 | 3–0 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 14–14–7 |
| 36 | T | December 31, 1952 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 14–14–8 |
| 37 | L | January 1, 1953 | 1–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 14–15–8 |
| 38 | T | January 3, 1953 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 14–15–9 |
| 39 | W | January 10, 1953 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 15–15–9 |
| 40 | L | January 11, 1953 | 2–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 15–16–9 |
| 41 | W | January 14, 1953 | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 16–16–9 |
| 42 | W | January 17, 1953 | 1–0 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 17–16–9 |
| 43 | L | January 18, 1953 | 1–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 17–17–9 |
| 44 | L | January 21, 1953 | 0–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 17–18–9 |
| 45 | L | January 22, 1953 | 1–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 17–19–9 |
| 46 | W | January 24, 1953 | 2–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 18–19–9 |
| 47 | W | January 25, 1953 | 4–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 19–19–9 |
| 48 | T | January 29, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 19–19–10 |
| 49 | W | January 31, 1953 | 4–0 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 20–19–10 |
| 50 | L | February 1, 1953 | 1–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 20–20–10 |
| 51 | L | February 5, 1953 | 0–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 20–21–10 |
| 52 | L | February 7, 1953 | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 20–22–10 |
| 53 | L | February 8, 1953 | 2–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 20–23–10 |
| 54 | T | February 14, 1953 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 20–23–11 |
| 55 | W | February 15, 1953 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 21–23–11 |
| 56 | W | February 18, 1953 | 2–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 22–23–11 |
| 57 | T | February 21, 1953 | 2–2 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 22–23–12 |
| 58 | L | February 25, 1953 | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 22–24–12 |
| 59 | L | February 26, 1953 | 1–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 22–25–12 |
| 60 | W | February 28, 1953 | 3–0 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 23–25–12 |
| 61 | L | March 1, 1953 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 23–26–12 |
| 62 | L | March 5, 1953 | 1–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 23–27–12 |
| 63 | L | March 7, 1953 | 0–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 23–28–12 |
| 64 | L | March 8, 1953 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 23–29–12 |
| 65 | L | March 14, 1953 | 1–3 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 23–30–12 |
| 66 | T | March 15, 1953 | 1–1 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 23–30–13 |
| 67 | W | March 18, 1953 | 4–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 24–30–13 |
| 68 | W | March 19, 1953 | 4–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53) | 25–30–13 |
| 69 | W | March 21, 1953 | 5–0 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 26–30–13 |
| 70 | W | March 22, 1953 | 3–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 27–30–13 |

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Sid Smith | 70 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 6 |
| Ted Kennedy | 43 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 42 |
| Gord Hannigan | 65 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 51 |
| Ron Stewart | 70 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 29 |
| Bob Hassard | 70 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 14 |
| Tod Sloan | 70 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 76 |
| George Armstrong | 52 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 54 |
| Harry Watson | 63 | 16 | 8 | 24 | 8 |
| Max Bentley | 36 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 16 |
| Jimmy Thomson | 69 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 73 |
| Eric Nesterenko | 35 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 27 |
| Tim Horton | 70 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 85 |
| Leo Boivin | 70 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 97 |
| Rudy Migay | 40 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 22 |
| Jim Morrison | 56 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 36 |
| Fern Flaman | 66 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 110 |
| Phil Maloney | 29 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Howie Meeker | 25 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 26 |
| Danny Lewicki | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Bob Solinger | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Hugh Bolton | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Harry Lumley | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Parker MacDonald | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Marshall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wally Maxwell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Reid | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Sullivan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ray Timgren | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO |
| Harry Lumley | 4200 | 70 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 167 | 2.39 | | | | 10 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 167 | 2.39 | | | | 10 |

## Awards and records

The Toronto Maple Leafs did not win any NHL awards and no players were selected for the All-Star Teams for the 1952–53 NHL season.

## Transactions

The following is a list of all transactions that have occurred for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1952–53 NHL season. It lists which team each player has been traded to and for which player(s) or other consideration(s), if applicable.
| September 11, 1952 | To Toronto Maple LeafsHarry Lumley | To Chicago Black HawksCal Gardner Ray Hannigan Gus Mortson Al Rollins |
| September 16, 1952 | To Toronto Maple Leafscash | To Boston BruinsJoe Klukay |